In 2014, Arts For Life Durham found its musical match with music teacher William Dawson. But you don’t have to take our word for it: You can hear for yourself! In January, William debuted Arts For Life Radio, a podcast-style format that gives Arts For Life students and their families the opportunity to be a part of the “magic of radioland.”

Arts For Life Asheville Program Director Annie Rogers recently caught up with William to talk about some notable moments so far from this year’s podcasts, to see what he has in store for upcoming shows, and to hear how he helped one Arts For Life student from the Middle East feel right at home in Durham.

Annie: What inspired you to start Arts For Life Radio?William: Before working in hospitals, I spent five years as an elementary school music teacher. I started several classroom and after-school radio podcasts and produced around 100 shows, and they were all great hits with the kids and teachers. It was a way to integrate technology, music, reading, and public speaking skills into our classroom.

Annie: What has the response to the podcast been so far?William: Arts For Life students and their families love the shows! They like being able to share what they’ve learned with their friends and family outside of the hospital.

Annie: What are one or two of your favorite moments from the shows so far? What highlights should people check out?William: All of the episodes are hits, but a couple stand out and make me laugh. I was an elementary school Spanish teacher for a while, and so I have a bunch of Spanish-language songs. However, when I get to work with students who are native speakers, they always teach me a lot about my pronunciation. I produced two episodes of Arts For Life Radio with my pal Raul, one with Spanish-language songs and then another episode with the corresponding English-language songs.

I also love all the episodes with Haley, who has been on three times now. When she referred to herself as being “here on radioland” I smiled because I realized that she’d picked up on the magic of what we do.

Annie: What can we look forward to in future installments?William: We did our first episode with jokes in February with my pal Jaylen, and it was a big hit! I’d like to have more jokes, and I’m planning on expanding the show to do short interviews with some of the nurses and staff that we see every day in the hospital. I’d also like to interview some of the Arts For Life staff, volunteers, and interns, which I think would be very interesting.

Annie: How do you see this new platform influencing the way Arts For Life’s story is told? William: Arts For Life’s work with the visual art projects is great because it lets the kids take something home from their time in the hospital. With music, it is more difficult because you can teach a music lesson, but the kids might not have an instrument of their own at home. With Arts For Life Radio, the students get to “bring home” their work, just as if they had painted a picture. The radio podcasts are free and available to stream or download 24 hours a day, so they get to “keep” their work.

Annie: You’ve been with Arts For Life more than six months now. What’s the most interesting thing a student has said to you?William: I had a student try to describe to me a type of stringed instrument he was interested in learning. I struggled with some guesses until I finally said, “Are you talking about an oud?” He lit up and said, “Yes! I want to learn the oud!” The instrument is kind of a Middle Eastern lute/mandolin without frets. I tuned the baritone ukuleles to a minor open chord and put some dots on the neck, and in about five minutes we had a pretty convincing oud jam going on!

]]>http://www.artsforlifenc.org/ruby/feed/0Breakfast with Arts For Life Durhamhttp://www.artsforlifenc.org/breakfast-with-arts-for-life-durham/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/breakfast-with-arts-for-life-durham/#commentsFri, 20 Mar 2015 16:00:19 +0000http://www.artsforlifenc.org/?p=3793http://www.artsforlifenc.org/breakfast-with-arts-for-life-durham/feed/0March Drop-In Volunteer Sessionhttp://www.artsforlifenc.org/drop-in-volunteer/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/drop-in-volunteer/#commentsTue, 17 Mar 2015 15:00:33 +0000http://www.artsforlifenc.org/?p=3176Have one, two, or three hours to spare on Thursday, March 19? Join us for a drop-in volunteer session. Every month in 2015, we’ll invite you to gather at our main office in downtown Asheville and lend a hand; after all, we can’t do this work – supporting young patients and families – without YOU. Some months we’ll prepare art projects or assemble art kits for our patients, others we’ll work on mailings and exciting office things… You never know what you’ll get!

What: drop-in volunteer sessionWhen: Thursday, March 19, 4-7 pmWhere: 50 S. French Broad Ave., Ste. 258, Asheville, in the United Way buildingWhy: It’s a fun, social time for our volunteers in the community who keep things running behind the scenes. You’re welcome to bring a guest, too. If you plan to come help, please email Anna Long, or just drop in; put it on your calendar and pop by if you have time.

]]>http://www.artsforlifenc.org/drop-in-volunteer/feed/0TRIANGLE: Teachers Wanted!http://www.artsforlifenc.org/triangle-teachers-wanted/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/triangle-teachers-wanted/#commentsFri, 06 Mar 2015 21:32:53 +0000http://www.artsforlifenc.org/?p=3771If you’ve resolved to be more involved and have a positive impact in your community in the new year, we hope you’ll consider volunteering with Arts For Life at Duke Children’s Hospital! Our volunteer and intern teachers make a real difference in the lives of our patients and families—all while having fun and being creative.

Want to learn more about teaching opportunities at Duke?

Join us for a special InfoSession on Wednesday, March 18, at the Volunteer Center of Durham.

You’ll learn more about Arts For Life’s educational visual art, music, and creative writing programs and the volunteerandinternship experience. Informationsession attendees are invited to bring all questions to the March 18 event. More details about volunteer as well as internship opportunities, including an online volunteer application, can be found at artsforlifenc.org/get-involved.

Teaching volunteers and interns must have skills in the arts, enjoy working with children, and be 18 years of age or older. Volunteers are expected to teach lessons weekly to patients and their siblings.

“I spend each Friday at the hospital, and that makes it the best day of my week,” says former intern and current volunteer Lauren Ling. “It’s amazing to watch a young child fully immerse themselves in the process of making art, leaving behind the beeping IV poll and the fear and discomfort surrounding treatment. It’s a triumph for art to be the reason a patient wants ‘10 minutes longer’ before going home.”

]]>http://www.artsforlifenc.org/triangle-teachers-wanted/feed/0The Great Human Racehttp://www.artsforlifenc.org/great-human-race/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/great-human-race/#commentsFri, 06 Mar 2015 20:39:18 +0000http://www.artsforlifenc.org/?p=3329Mark your calendars and lace up those running shoes! Join us in Durham for this fun 10K/5K/walk to support Arts For Life and many other Triangle nonprofits. Click here to register and get all the details.
]]>http://www.artsforlifenc.org/great-human-race/feed/0Lesson: Mondrian Animalshttp://www.artsforlifenc.org/lesson-mondrian-animals/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/lesson-mondrian-animals/#commentsThu, 26 Feb 2015 16:39:19 +0000http://www.artsforlifenc.org/?p=3778Combining the distinct painting style of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian with the fun challenge of drawing animals, Mondrian Animals are a fun way to explore and practice drawing, painting, art history, and color theory.

Goals

Learn about Art History while applying concepts learned into an original piece of artwork.

Increase knowledge of a famous painter in Art History.

Adopt a style of artwork while learning about color theory and painting techniques.

Materials

Canvas Board

Pencil

Sharpie – Black

Ruler

Acrylic Paints – Primary Colors

Paintbrushes

Water

Steps

Choose an animal to draw. The animal can be drawn as a whole, or just a part of the animal.

Sketch the animal on to the canvas board with a pencil. Make the animal large, filling up as much of the canvas as possible.

Look at examples of Piet Mondrian’s artwork.

Use a ruler to separate the animal into rectangular sections using the black Sharpie.

Younger students can create the project with watercolor paint or tempera paint on watercolor paper or mixed media paper.

Ten facts about Piet Mondrian, the Dutch painter:

Piet Mondrian was born on 7th March 1872 in Amersfoort, the Netherlands.

From a very young age, Piet Mondrian was exposed to art. His father was a qualified art instructor and his uncle was an artist.

Piet Mondrian became a primary school teacher and he painted in his spare time.

His early paintings were mainly landscapes, featuring fields, rivers and windmills.

Mondrian moved to Paris in 1911. He was immediately influenced by the Cubist style of Picasso and Braque, and his work started to incorporate more geometric shapes, moving away from being purely naturalistic.

Piet Mondrian returned to the Netherlands for the duration of the First World War. He met the artist Bart van der Leck, who only used primary colors in his paintings. Mondrian started to develop his own painting theory and style.

After WW1, Mondrian returned to Paris and he began to produce the grid-based abstract paintings for which he is best known.

Mondrian left Paris in 1938 to escape the inevitable advance of the Nazis. He moved to London and then to Manhattan.

In Manhattan, Mondrian started to develop anew technique using pieces of paper tape to create small rectangles of color.

]]>http://www.artsforlifenc.org/lesson-mondrian-animals/feed/0Lesson: Love Monster Puppetshttp://www.artsforlifenc.org/lesson-love-monster-puppets/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/lesson-love-monster-puppets/#commentsWed, 11 Feb 2015 18:07:35 +0000http://www.artsforlifenc.org/?p=3746Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and a love monster makes a perfect valentine—one that can be enjoyed long after the holiday has passed! This lesson will help you tap into your imagination to create a love-filled, interactive puppet.

Goals:

To create an interactive puppet

To practice bringing several parts together to make an imaginary creature

Start by gluing down the base layers: head, mouth, teeth, and belly. Be sure to glue the teeth to the inside of the fold of the bag so that they will move with the puppet’s mouth.

For the rest of the parts, there is NO wrong way to glue them down! Do you have a one-eyed monster? Heart nose? Ears or horns? Will you use the paper strips to make antennae, arms, or legs? Make your monster your own: Just make sure to add an extra splash of LOVE!

You can stop here, or to turn your puppet into a valentine, add a special message to your puppet’s belly or back, or slip a card inside.

Tweak It:

To simplify for your young artist(s), pre-glue the base layers (head, mouth, teeth, and belly) so they will only have to add their flair.

]]>http://www.artsforlifenc.org/lesson-love-monster-puppets/feed/0Grant Award: Thanks, Mission VLC!http://www.artsforlifenc.org/grant-award-thanks-mission-vlc/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/grant-award-thanks-mission-vlc/#commentsThu, 05 Feb 2015 22:23:38 +0000http://www.artsforlifenc.org/?p=3728We’re thrilled to announce that Arts For Life has recently been awarded a $10,000 grant from Mission Health’s Volunteer Leadership Committee (VLC)! The committee raises money through purchases at their Gift & Bean Shops, along with special fundraisers, then awards grants that help Mission provide quality healthcare across the region. Four other grants were awarded by the committee last month, totaling more than $51,000.

We will use the grant money to support our art table at the Olson Huff Center for Child Development, where we expect to deliver quality art education to more than 1,200 of Mission’s pediatric patients and family members in 2015. This art table serves youth with a wide range of needs: physical, speech, or occupational therapy; treatment for autism and ADHD; counseling; and more. Our entire Mission team and all of our patients and families are extremely thankful! (Read more about our work in Asheville and at Mission on our Chapters page.)

But we aren’t just thankful to Mission volunteers for this grant. We’re also extremely appreciative of the 18 hospital volunteers who contributed 4,000 hours to enrich the lives of our students last year. And, we’re grateful that the Volunteer Services Department purchased the birthday cards they’ll send to volunteers this year from us. That means each volunteer will receive a card designed just for them by one of our talented young artists! Learn more about Mission’s volunteers via their website. If you’re interested in volunteering with our Asheville programs, head over to our Volunteer page.

]]>http://www.artsforlifenc.org/grant-award-thanks-mission-vlc/feed/0Lesson: Lichtenstein Portraitshttp://www.artsforlifenc.org/lichtenstein-portraits/
http://www.artsforlifenc.org/lichtenstein-portraits/#commentsSat, 31 Jan 2015 13:01:30 +0000http://artsforlifenc.org/projects/?p=1560Roy Lichtenstein was an American Pop artist. His bold, colorful style took portraiture to a less serious place than it had been in history. He had fun with his portraits and often connected advertising and comic strip appearances. This lesson will help you create a fun portrait that guides your viewer to have an emotional response to the artwork.

Time Frame: 1 hour

Goals:

Explore illustration and painting in the eyes of American Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.

Use portraiture to bridge a cultural connection between advertising and fine art.

Directions:It is your job to create a fun portrait that guides your viewer to have an emotional response to the artwork: confused, happy, sad, laughing, etc. If looking though a magazine for a model, choose a portrait that shows emotion and a mouth that could be speaking. If using a live model from the art table, or a mirror for a self-portrait, make sure the model is (or you are!) making a face that could express emotion and looks as if they/you were speaking.

Use a pencil to draw the basic lines of the face, neck, and shoulders. Then, draw in a word bubble to the side.

Trace the lines with a black Sharpie. Erase the pencil lines.

Choose your colors that will be used for the portrait. You’ll want only a few colors for the face, hair/hat, shirt, and background.

Start with the background and fill in with rows of dots. These should be in lines as best as possible. You are recreating a “print” effect.

Move to the next area, face, or shirt and try to line up the dots with the background dots. It’s ok if the colors touch the black marker – you will re-trace when it is dry.

Once the paper is full of dots, use a small paintbrush to fill in the smaller areas like the eyes, lips, and glasses frame if there is one.

Once the paint is dry, re-trace the Sharpie.

Use the Sharpie to write a statement in the word bubble that you think the portrait could be saying. Think about how to make a statement with the word bubble. Help connect either a question or emotion with the word bubble and the portrait.

Tweak It:

Use thought bubbles in addition to or instead of word bubbles.

Draw several people in one picture in the same way.

Create a large comic strip with the same method; use a 12 x 18 piece of paper and divide it into three sections.

Draw animals instead of people.

Choose a larger section that could be completely filled with color instead of dots.